# Sound
A completely new sound gadget can only be made by making a new recording. This can easily be converted into an instrument. (Tg)
Sound gadgets can be used outside of a timeline, and powered by logic to play them.
Note that some tabs have a large circular “on” button at the top for that entire tab. Remember to turn it on, or none of those settings will be in effect.
Change the mode to Sound Mode - shortcuts: shift + Cross button on any sound gadget’s windows or to open the gadget’s window.
# Wired power affects: The received power multiplies the Volume of the output. This makes it easy to make distance-based sound effects. (Tg)
If powered with a Music wire and in Instrument mode, will play the corresponding note.
# Memory: Costs 0.0091% of the things limit per gadget.
While on a Timeline: has fader handles. Fade-out handle is hidden while using Once slice playback mode.
When moved onto a timeline, the playback speed will be set to that of the timeline.
While playing, the progress through the clip will inherit from the playhead of the parent timeline. (Tg)
# Replacing
While holding a sound gadget with, hover it over another sound gadget to see the target gadget throb. Let go of the gadget to drop the held gadget onto the target gadget. The target gadget will be replaced, but any recorded notes will be transferred over to the new gadget.
# Loading
A note or playthrough may begin before the slice it requires has been properly loaded. If so, it may play back in the incorrect octave, or play a different slice pitched into the right note.
To ensure this isn’t heard during a music track, copy the sound gadget to the start of the timeline and set its volume to 0. Now if that problem does happen, it won’t be heard by the player. (Tg)
# Spice
You can set a “Spicy” state of the instrument settings, much like a keyframe. Shortcuts: hold L2 while adjusting a setting.
Spicyness of the currently played note can be performed to interpolate between the non-spicy settings and the spicy settings - shortcuts: L2 . (Mm)
To remove spiciness from a setting, use the Triangle button on it (Mm).
The spicy value of a setting can also be split into a range. (Mm)
# Objects Containing Audio
Objects that can contain sound gadgets (Microchip, Timeline, and Group objects) have Audio tabs, which contain the following settings:
# Volume
Adjusts the volume of audio output from sources within this gadget. (Tg)
Audio sources within this gadget have their audio output multiplied by the parent volume. Top-level gadgets have their output volume multiplied by the volume of the channel they are using.
The setting is added to 100% for calculations. So +10% would give a final volume for that gadget of 110% of normal.
The output volume from the parent gadget is shown at the bottom of the tab, rounded.
For example: we have a Timeline A, containing Timeline B, containing Sound Gadget C. A is set to 30% giving 130% volume. B is set to -40% giving 60% volume, but this is multiplied by the 110% of the parent timeline, giving a final value of 78%. C is set to 80%, which is multiplied by the 78% giving a final value of 62%.
# Sound Channel
When not set to “unset,” overrides the channel of contained gadgets.
# Window
Open the window with shift + Cross. (Tg)
Here, you can manipulate what is played when the gadget is activated.
Along the top-left are 3 buttons:
- Metronome: When this switch is on, a metronome will play as the clip plays.
- Count In: When this switch is on, a 1, 2, 3, 4 count-in will sound in the same style as the metronome. (Mm) Note that switching on this flag automatically switches on the metronome also.
- Clear Recording: Deletes all recorded notes in the gadget. Only available when there is something recorded.
As well as the 3 buttons along the top-right that are a part of all windows in Dreams, there are 3 extra buttons that change the window to the Performance, Piano Roll (only shown if the gadget is in Instrument mode), and Slice Mapper views.
# Performance View
When first opening the window, the view defaults to performance mode. (Mm) (Tg) If this view had been previously changed to a different one, that view will be opened instead.
When changing to the performance view, the perform tool will automatically be used, so that you can play in the window. (Tg)
Notes that have been recorded will appear in the performance window as lines where those notes were performed. They will be thinner where the volume is quieter and thicker where the volume is louder.
While holding a note, its volume can be increased or decreased using the Scale controls.
When the clip is playing, the notes are rendered in 3D behind the window. As they meet the window they play and disappear. (Tg)
Select a note with the Select controls. The selected note will light up and have an outline. Selected notes will still be selected in the piano roll.
A note’s colour is light blue, but shifts towards purple depending on how “spicy” it is.
Effect Field gadgets can be brought into the performance window. These fields will take effect while a note is being played within its influence, as shown by a circular colour around the gadget. (Tg)
Sound gadgets can be brought into the performance window also. These work the same way for performance but have a rectangular shape. (Tg)Note that effect fields and notes within such instruments will not be triggered while inside a containing performance window. (Tg)
Any gadget can also be added to the window, but these don’t have any special behaviour attached to them; they inherit the power of the sound gadget and work while the have power—the same as a Microchip.
# Piano Roll View
A piano roll lets you manipulate notes recorded in performance mode, as well as new ones.
To the left of the window is a bar displaying all notes, or if it’s more of a series of samples like a drum kit, it will display icons for each d-pad and face button corresponding to which buttons play which sample in performance mode. You can click on these buttons to preview the sound they make.
In the main window, the notes are displayed as lines going from left to right which shows when they will begin and end—much like in a timeline. Hovering over the main window will show the letter notation for the rows, to the right of the nearest bar mark.
You can drag notes around with the Move controls.
While holding a note, a preview plays of what the note sounds like. The preview will use the first position of the note in the performance window and any effects applied at that position.
Because of this, the note may sound quiet because it was performed starting inside a low-volume effect field and moving out.
Dragging from the right edge of a note lets you change its length.
Note that there is no way of changing a note’s length by dragging the left edge. (Tg)
Adjust notes: Select, clone, delete, and move notes using the normal controls. (Mm)
Selected notes will still be selected in the performance view.
# Snap Notes: When one or more notes are selected in performance or piano roll view, use this context menu button to snap all selected notes to use the current Music Snap setting (quantizes them).
Window: Use the Window Size Adjustment controls to resize the window. (Tg) Make the window taller to access different octaves in the piano roll view.
The view can be scaled using the same controls as for a timeline. (Tg)
Hover over the column number at the top and use shift + Cross button to select notes in those columns. Or over the piano keys to select rows. (Tg)
# Slices
A “slice” is the name for a sample of an audio recording.
Anywhere in the sound’s tweak menu where you see the waveform of the recording, while the sample is being played, circles appear and move along the sample. These represent each part of the sample that is currently being played.
# Slice Mapper View
The slice mapper shows all audio samples the instrument uses, and allows adjusting settings for these slices such as the note it represents, the spiciness it will activate on, and where the slice begins and ends.
You can drag existing instruments or sound gadgets into the slice mapper to add those slices to the gadget. (Bg)
Slices can have spiciness set, so that they are only used when the note that is being played is closer to its own spiciness setting than other slices’ spiciness settings. This means that depending on the spiciness of the note, different groups of samples can be used even from the same instrument. (Bg)
If Slice Keytracking is enabled, slices can have a note assigned to them.
If Multilanguage is on, slices can have a language assigned to them. (Tg)
# Which Slice Will Play?
Each time a slice is required to play, only slices that match the following requirements can be selected to play:
While the Multi-language setting is on, slices that are marked as the same language as the player’s console settings. If there are no slices matching the language, this filter is ignored.
-
Slices with a spiciness setting closest to the required Spiciness.
Note that if the spiciness changes halfway through and the currently playing slice is no longer among the slices with the closest spiciness setting, that playthrough will cut out. If powered with a Music wire or playing a note in instrument mode, its spiciness setting will be used for comparison instead.
With Row Mapping enabled:
- If in sound effect mode, the second component of the powering wire—normally the Surface Type of a Collision wire or the Button of a Music wire—only a slice from the corresponding row may be selected from.
- If in instrument mode, this is taken from the Button component of the currently played note.
- If no slices are present on the corresponding row, the default row (Cross button for instruments, or Default for sound effects) is used instead.
With Slice Keytracking enabled:
- If in sound effect mode and powered with a Music wire, only slices with the closest note setting to the required Note component of the wire can be selected. The playback of this slice will be adjusted according to the Vari-speed setting to match the required note.
- If in instrument mode, this is taken from the Note component of the currently played note.
If there is only one allowed slice remaining, that one is selected. While there are more than one allowed slices remaining the following steps filter them down further, in order:
- The slice is not the most recently played slice. If there is only 1 slice available, this is ignored.
- A random slice.
There are 14 tabs in the Sound gadget's tweak menu: Sound, Pitch, Panning, Sound FX, Granular Synthesis, Granular Randomisation, Oscillator, Filter, Distortion, Chorus & Delay, EQ, Dynamics Compressor, Outputs, and Options.
“14 tabs on the tweak menu? What the hell?!” —People inside Media Molecule (at first). (Mm)
# Sound Tab
# Volume
The volume of each note played. (Tg)
# ADSR (Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release)
This controls the fade in or fade out of each playthrough. (Mm) The acronym stands for: (Tg)
- Attack: how long it takes to get to full volume.
- Decay: how long it takes to get from full volume to the sustain volume.
- Sustain: the volume level the slice will play at until released.
- Release: how long it takes for the slice to fade out.
# Speed/Tempo
The speed the recorded notes will play at. Doesn’t affect how the slices sound, only how quickly it will play through the notes. (Tg)
# Start Time Offset
Where playback will begin, a percentage through each slice. (Tg) (Mm)
# Clip Playback Mode
How the clip’s playback will react to being powered. The “clip” refers to the sound gadget and notes. (Tg)
# Slice Playback Mode
How a slice moves through the sample while playing. (Tg)
Once and Sustain modes limit the maximum duration in a timeline to the length of the clip. Loop and Sustain modes will allow you to drag the clip beyond the clip’s normal duration. Loop mode will extend extra loops out, showing faded repeats of the clip. Sustain mode will expand the length of the clip, or add a trim to the end when dragging it to a smaller duration.
Note that the fade-out handle will not work while in “Once” mode.
# Sound Type
When in Sound Effect mode When in Instrument mode Note that multiple slices may play at once from the same gadget, depending on the settings.
# Pitch Tab
Adjusts the speed of the note played, resulting in a higher or lower pitch. (Tg)
Note this does not affect which slice is selected. For example, a slice is marked as C4 and another marked as C#4. When a C4 note is played, the C4 slice will be used. If the instrument has a coarse pitch shift of +1 semitone, the C4 slice is still used but played the equivalent of one semitone higher.
# Coarse Pitch Shift
Adjusts the speed that clips are played by full semitones. (Tg)
When a random range is added, any non-integer value can be used for a given note, not just whole semitones.
# Transpose
Works similarly to the Coarse Pitch Shift, but notes will be shifted before slice selection is made, playback begins. This means that the closest sample to the transposed note will be played; not the one it would have played for the original piano-roll note. (Ml)
# Fine Pitch Shift (Cents)
Tunes the notes played by a percentage of 1 semitone. (Tg)
# Home Octave
Dictates which octave is default in performance mode. (Tg)
# Glide
For notes that pitch bend, decides how long it takes to adjust to the new note—“smoothing” this change. This applies to notes performed with Legato, pitch bending with the touchpad, and effect or logic-controlled changes to pitch. (Tg) Also applies to the new auto-legato setting.
# Random Note Drop
Each time a note would be played, it has this chance of not playing. (Tg)
# Legato
These settings allow separate notes in the piano roll to be played as if they are merged into one note in the same way as the legato performance setting. (Ml)
# Panning Tab
# Speaker Name
The name of a Speaker gadget in the scene that will be used to output the audio from this gadget. If empty, any speaker gadget without a name will be used. (Tg) (Tg)
If there is more than one matching speaker gadget, the priority is based on: the speaker in the same chip, the speaker in a chip within the same chip as the source audio, the speaker created first.
If there is an applicable speaker, the other “Panning” tab settings are disabled.
# Surround Pan
A circular graph representing the direction the audio will seem to play from. (Tg)
Displays dots on the outside of the circle representing the audio output channels, showing them larger when more audio will be sent through them and smaller when less audio will be sent through them.
Within the graph are 3 movable dots. The central black dot represents the centre of the stereo “image,” and there is a dot either side representing the left channel output of the sound gadget, and the right channel output.
# Stereo Balance
Adjusts the ratio of volume given to the left and right channels. When moved all the way to the left, for example, the left channel will become twice as loud and the right channel will go to 0% volume. (Tg)
# Stereo Width
Dictates how far from the central dot the left and right channels are. If the width is large, the audio will seem to come from all around you. If the width is narrow, the audio will seem to come from a very specific location. (Tg)
# Rear Speakers Volume
How loud the audio will play over the “rear” channel output from the PS4. (Tg)When listening without a rear channel, this is used to say how loud a “3D Panned” sound will be when it is behind the camera.
# Pan Style
Decides which audio output channels will be sent the audio from this gadget. (Tg)
# 3D Panning Tab
Places the sound at a position in the scene. The audio coming from this gadget will be affected based on the position and angle of the camera relative to this position. (Tg)
While the camera view is inside the inner bubble, the volume of the audio will be full. As it leaves the bubble and moves towards the outer radius the volume falls off.
Because this is based on the camera’s position and orientation, if the camera is far away from the object in the scene the 3D panning bubble may be too far away to be heard. To get around this and still have proximity affect the volume of a sound, a Trigger Zone may be used instead. (Tg) (Tg)
The audio also comes from the direction relative to the view. For example, if the sound’s centre is on the left of the current view it will be louder from the left channels.
To have the audio volume etc. be affected by some other position such as the puppet to allow you to freely move the camera, the volume of a sound gadget can be controlled using a trigger zone to get a similar effect.
Note, the settings on this tab will be overridden when being output through a Speaker gadget.
# Auto 3D Panning
Turns on positional 3D Panning.
# Fade Zone: Inner Radius
The radius of the inner bubble.
# Fade Zone: Outer Radius Multiplier
The radius of the outer falloff relative to the inner bubble.
# Extra Reverb Radius
The further towards the edge of the fall off the view is, the more reverb the audio has—multiplied by this setting.
For example, at 0% no extra reverb will be added at the outer edge of the fall off. At 50%, half the reverb will be added.
# Distance Muffle
This adjusts the allowed frequency range as the view becomes further out towards the edge of the falloff.
Includes a frequency setting (left/right) which sets the centre of the frequencies left intact, and a muffle amount setting (up/down) which decides how thin the allowed band of frequencies is.
# Sound FX Tab
Sound effects settings.
# Delay
How loud the delay is that plays after the audio, through the Delay Channel. (Tg)
# Delay Channel
Which delay channel will be used for this sound. These delay channels sound different by default, and can be further customised using a Delay gadget.
# Reverb
Up to 100% will add reverb based on the sound (turns up the “wet” effect), through the Reverb Channel. Above that up to 200% removes the original sound and just keeps the reverb (turns down the “dry” original audio). (Tg)
# Reverb Channel
Which reverb channel will be used for this sound. These reverb channels sound different by default and can be further customised using Reverb channel gadgets.
# Spiciness
If a performance captured the use of spiciness, the slider value is blended with the recording, allowing you to adjust the overall spiciness of the same recording. As this is a tweak menu setting, you can set it with logic. (Mm) (Tg)
Affects how the instrument sounds in whatever ways are set.
Notes will be coloured according to the amount of spiciness applied at the start of the note.
# Freeform Offset
A rectangular graph representing the performance window.
Offsets all notes played, within the performance window. This can cause them to trigger different effect fields or embedded instruments. (Tg)
Notes that would be pushed beyond the edge of the performance window will stick to the edge instead.
Embedded effect fields are shown as bright circles, with the inner radius shown less brightly, and the outer radius shown less brightly still. Embedded instruments are shown similarly but as rectangles instead.
Input and Output
Freeform X Offset sends a Number. Freeform Y Offset sends a Number
# Granular Synthesis Tab
Granular synthesis means that instead of playing an entire slice of audio, that slice is played a tiny bit at a time. These mini-slices are called “grains.” Each grain has a shape to it, meaning its volume increases and then decreases over time, and they overlap to make up the difference in volume. (Tg)
When the settings are at the defaults, things sound exactly the same as if the normal slice is played. But messing with these settings can give you all sorts of interesting effects.
When turned on, the sound is played as “grains”—tiny slices of the sample. This lets you mess with the audio at a much finer level and get all sorts of interesting effects. (Mm)
The overlap of the grains affects how they merge together into one sound. If you lessen the overlap, you will hear longer gaps in the audio. If you increase the overlap, you will hear fewer gaps in the audio.
Grain shape affects how the volume of the grain changes over time. If you give it a left slant, each grain will come in at 100% volume and go down to 0%.
The interval setting affects how long the next grain waits before being played. So at 0%, it is played when it would be in real time. Whereas -10% will play it 90% through the previous grain. (Mm)
# Granular Synthesis
Turns on all settings on this tab.
# Start Time Offset
A shortcut to manipulate the normal Start Time Offset setting.
# Time Stretch
How much farther through the slice a grain will be relative to what was used by the previous grain. When negative, the grain will be further back through the slice instead. (Tg)
Using this, you can make the slice play in reverse perfectly.
# Shape
The shape of the grains can be previewed and manipulated here, using nodes on the central grain shape. (Tg)
- Grain Shape: is a node at the top of the grain. Drag it left or right to adjust the ramp up and ramp down ratio of all grains. I/O: Spice & Randomisation. (Mm)
- Overlap: can be adjusted using either of the 2 nodes at the bottom of the grain. Drag them left or right to adjust how much overlap there is with the other grains. If there is less overlap there can be dips in the audio where it cannot be heard, for example. I/O: Spice & Randomisation. (Mm)
# Interval
How long before the next grain will play. Negatives will give strange effects. (Tg)
# Beat Sync Grain Interval
When on and the gadget is on a timeline, the Interval will snap to powers of the timeline’s tempo. (Tg)
# Pitch Affects Interval Length
When on, the note being played will automatically adjust the interval. (Tg)
# Granular Randomisation Tab
Randomises (“jitters”) certain aspects of a grain each time a new grain is played.
# Granular Randomisation
Turns on the settings on this tab.
# Start Time Jitter
Adjusts the start time of the part of the slice the grain will play. (Tg)
# Grain Reverse
The chance of the grain being played in reverse. (Tg)
# Pan Jitter
How different the panning can be adjusted for that grain. (Tg)
# Pitch Jitter
How much the speed of the grains can be changed. (Tg)
# Octave Jitter
Increases the octave of each grain by a random amount, up to 4 octaves. As the slider increases, the likelihood a grain will jump an octave increases, as well as how high it can jump. (Ml)
# Shape
# Shape Jitter
How much the shape of the grain can be adjusted. (Tg)
# Interval Jitter
How much the interval can be adjusted—effectively how late or early grains can play. (Tg)
# Length Jitter
How much the length (or “overlap”) of each grain can be adjusted. (Tg)
# Volume Jitter
How much quieter a grain can be played at.
# Grain Drop
The chance of the grain not being played. (Tg)
# Oscillator Tab
Plays a simple waveform based on the pitch of the note being played, and combines it with the audio in different ways.
# Oscillator
Turns on the settings of this tab.
# Oscillator Mode
How the oscillator’s waveform will affect and be affected by the slice being played.
# Mix Tab
How much of the slice audio and the oscillator audio is output. At -100% only the slice audio is output. At 100% only the oscillator’s audio is output. At 0%, both are heard at full volume. (Tg)
# Wave Shape
The shape of the waveform that is generated. This can really change how the oscillator sounds. The negative numbers have variants on a sine wave. The positive numbers have more jagged abrasive-sounding waveforms. (Tg)
# Pitch (Coarse)
The pitch in semitones relative to the currently played note. (Tg)
# Fine Pitch
A finer adjustment to the pitch of the oscillator, in the percentage of a semitone. (Tg)
# Oscillator Envelope
How the volume of the oscillator changes over time. (Tg)Similar to the ADSR setting, but the oscillator output is capped by the ADSR setting itself.
# Filter Tab
# Filter
Turns on the settings on this tab.
# Resonant Filter
Resonant filtering is a different kind of EQ effect. The graph shows how the frequencies are affected by the filter. Move the node left and right on the graph to adjust the point at which higher frequencies will be cut off. Move the node up and down on the graph to adjust the volume boost given to the frequencies just below the cut-off point. (Mm)(Tg)
Expand the node to be wider and/or taller - shortcuts: hold
# ADSR Envelope
Affects how the depth setting is applied over time, rather than the volume of the filter’s output. (Tg)
Each part has a similar effect as the sound’s ADSR setting.
# Pitch Envelope Depth
How much of the original frequencies are outputted. So a lower value will cause the frequencies to the right of the filter line to be more muffled. Also affects how pronounced the resonance tone will be. 100% will leave the slice audio untouched. (Tg)
# Pitch Affects Cutoff
When on, higher pitches will be affected by the filter less, as if the filter setting was moved to the right. (Tg)
# Distortion Tab
Move the node on the graph to adjust the amount and type of distortion applied to the sound.
# Distortion
Turns on the settings on this tab.
# Distortion Amount, Wave Shape
A graphical representation of the type and intensity of the distortion.
Moving the node left to right will make the distortion have more effect. Moving the node bottom to top will blend between different types of distortion. (Tg)
The distortion types are, from top to bottom:
- Bit Crusher
- Asymmetric Clipper
- Soft Clipper (Mm)
- Wave folder
- Scream
# Downsampler
Downsamples the gadget’s audio data playback to a lower bit rate to make it sound more lo-fi and crunchy like 8-bit sound effects and music. Similar to “bitcrushing.” (Ml)
# Chorus & Delay Tab
Chorus repeats the exact same audio output (Mm)at slightly different pitches.
(Tg)
# Chorus & Delay
Turns the settings in this tab on.
# Chorus & Delay Amount
The mix of the original audio and the delay volume. 0% means the delay will be muted. 100% means the original audio will be muted but the delay will be at full volume. And 50% means the original audio and delay audio will both be at full volume. (Tg)(Tg)(Mm)
Note that the volume of the delay is capped by the gadget’s ADSR.
# Delay
Moving the node left to right will increase the time between delays. At the top, each delay will be at full volume. Moving towards the middle will make each successive repeat be quieter than the last. In the middle the repeats will have no volume. Going below the middle makes the delay bounce between left and right stereo channels. (Tg)
# Chorus LFO (Low Frequency Oscillator)
A graphical representation of the sine wave used to adjust the delay time.
Moving the node from bottom to top adjusts the amplitude of the wave, and so affects how much the delay time is adjusted. Moving the node from left to right adjusts the frequency of the wave, and so affects how quickly the delay time is changed. (Tg)
# Beat Sync Delay Time
When on, the delay time will snap to powers of the BPM the clip is being played at. (Tg)
# EQ Tab
The graph shows a black line representing how the frequencies are affected by the equaliser settings. There is a grey line showing the neutral state that would not affect the frequency output of the sound gadget. Any part where the black line is above the grey line is boosting those frequencies. Any part where the black line is below the grey line, it is attenuating (turning down) those frequencies.
You can drag the black nodes on the graph itself to adjust the EQ - shortcuts: Cross button. (Mm)
There are 4 audio “bands” with nodes.
You can adjust the width of these bands
(how broadly the black line is affected by the node)
- shortcuts: hold
# EQ
Turns on the settings in this tab.
# EQ Filter
A graphical representation of how different frequencies are affected. Where the line is above the default, those frequencies will be boosted. Where the line is below the default, those frequencies will be dampened. (Tg)
Adjust the bandwidth—the range of frequencies
that node affects—of a node. Shortcuts: hold
When dragging from the left or right edge, the node to be affected is the one whose input and output tabs are along that row of the graph.
Input and Output
The bands correspond to nodes in the graph, of a filter type:
- Band 1: is a Low Shelf filter.
- Band 2: is a Bell filter.
- Band 3: is a Bell filter.
- Band 4: is a High Shelf filter.
Each is a 3 Numbers fat wire, mapping like this:
- Frequency Centre for the node: 0 at low-end frequencies, 1 at high-end frequencies.
- Gain for the node: -2 to cut completely, 0 to leave the frequencies unaffected, 1 to fully boost.
- Bandwidth for the node: -1 for the thinnest range, to 4 for the widest range.
# Low Cut Frequency
Cuts frequencies below the designated limit. (Tg)(Mm)
# High Cut Frequency
Cuts frequencies above the designated limit. (Tg)(Mm)
# Dynamics Compressor Tab
Affects the volume of the output as it is played. (Tg)
# Dynamics Compressor
Turns on the settings in this tab.
# Compression
Compressing the dynamics of audio makes the loud parts quieter and the quiet parts louder so everything evens out.
Move the node left to right to increase the amount the audio will be compressed. Move the node bottom to top to increase the “dirtiness,” or how quickly the compression kicks in. (Tg)
# Sidechain Channel
Which sidechain channel will be used by the sidechain setting.
# Sidechain Amount
How the sound will interact with the sidechain channel. (Tg)
In the middle, the sound will not be affected and will not affect the channel. To the right, the sound sends its output into the channel—even if the volume of the gadget is set to 0. (Tg)To the left, the sound will become quieter proportional to how much audio is being sent into the channel (known as “ducking”).
The effect of the “ducking” fades in and out over a small amount of time.
On the right side of the slider, a visual representation of how much audio is in the channel is shown. And to the left, how much the receiving sounds will be ducked by the channel.
The icon on the slider is a duck while in the middle, a greater-than sign while to the right, and a less-than sign while to the left.
# Outputs Tab
# Is Playing
Sends a signal while a note is being played. (Tg)
# Per Beat Trigger
Available:
when in instrument mode.
Sends a pulse each time a beat starts. (Tg)
# Per Bar Trigger
Available:
when in instrument mode.
Sends a pulse each time a bar starts. (Tg)
# On End Trigger
Sends a pulse each time the end of the clip is reached, including loops. (Tg)
# Note On, Note Off
Sends a pulse each time a note starts, and ends respectively. (Tg)
# Composite Note Data
All data regarding the note currently being played. (Tg)
This output always locks to the latest note that started and was created last (if multiple notes start at the same moment). When that locked-on note ends, the output stops and zeroes out even if other notes continue to play.
This is data for the note stored in the piano roll. As such, this does not take into account any settings of the sound gadget, its power level, effect fields, etc.
# Envelope
The current volume of the output of this gadget. (Tg)
While any note is playing, outputs the volume of the longest slice as if it began playing at the start of the note until the end of the note.
# Options Tab
# Gadget Colour
The hue of the gadget.
From 1% to 99%, goes from red to green to blue to red. At 0% and 100%, the colour becomes grey/white. (Tg)
# Polyphonic Limit
How many “voices” (eg. notes) can be played at the same time. (Tg)
This always locks to the latest note that started, or for a tie the last note that was created. Older notes are cancelled with a hard cutoff regardless of the release settings they have. When a note ends the output stops and zeroes out.
# Vari-Speed
How slices are manipulated to play different notes with the same slice. (Tg)
- When on: plays slices at different speeds to adjust their pitch.
- When off: the gadget will use granular synthesis to play the slice at the same speed but play each grain slower to make it sound lower.
# Row Mapping
In instrument mode, when on, each row of the slice mapper is associated with a different button. Pressing that button will play a slice from that row. When there are no slices in the corresponding row, the first row (for the Cross button button) will be used instead. (Tg)
When on and the sound is in Sound Effect mode, each row maps to an audio surface type. When powered with a Collision wire, the sound will use the audio surface type from the collision to decide which row to select a slice from.
When off, any slice from the slice mapper will be played.
# Multi-language
When on, each slice will have a language setting, used to play a suitable language slice for the player. (Tg)
If only one language is used by the slices this setting is ignored by the gadget so that something plays.
# Slice Keytracking
When on, each slice will have a note setting, used to select a suitable slice depending on which note needs to be played. (Tg)
# Sound Channel
Which sound channel to use to output audio. (Tg)
This source audio is then affected by the volume of that channel. (See Master Mixer.)
When inside a parent that has a set channel, this gadget will use that channel for audio output.
When no parent gadget has a set channel, this gadget’s channel will be used for audio output. If this gadget’s channel is unset, it will use the General channel.
The used channel (unless defaulting to the General channel) will be lit in colour. If this is different to the channel set in the sound gadget, the setting will be lit white.
# Metre Numerator, Metre Denominator
When in a timeline, this is overridden by the timeline’s setting. (Tg)
# Effect Field
Effect Fields adjust the corresponding settings of sound gadgets they affect. (Mm)
Effect Fields can be wired up to logic, as with any other gadget. (Mm)
Most of the Sound gadget’s settings can be found in this gadget’s tweak menu, and so can be manipulated by the effect field. (Mm) When affecting a note, that note’s settings have the effect field’s settings added to it. (See Sound.)
While affecting a note, the field shows ripples emanating out from the centre.
Note, as well as performing notes in an effect field to be affected by it, notes can be moved into the field to be affected by it. Using this technique, some notes or drums can have completely different settings applied to them. (Tg)
While the tweak menu is open, circles appear for the inner and outer ranges of the field. Drag these with Move controls to adjust. Also a small circle on the outer edge is shown. Drag this to adjust the angle the wave will move across, and the width of the wave iterations themselves.
Gizmo: While in a performance window, only shows while the gadget is tweaked. The Inner Radius and Outer Radiuscan be dragged visually, as well as a small node that controls the angle and density of the waves. (Tg)
When not in a timeline and using Positional mode, has a core and falloff zone.
Wired power affects: The amount the gadget is powered affects how strongly these settings are applied to affected sounds.
Memory: Costs 0.0091% of the things limit per gadget. Costs 1 of 256 of the unique stamped elements limit per import of a different kind of effect field. Whereas editing one you already imported doesn’t cost anything more than the Thing cost.
While on a Timeline: Affects everything within that timeline while it is active. The time it is active is indicated by that time period being highlighted as a column. (Mm) Effect fields do not affect parent or child timelines or instruments. (Mm)
To restrict the effect to only affecting some sounds within the timeline, use the effect's Effect Height settings.
Note, affects gadgets in the same chip, timeline, and notes played in the same performance window. But not gadgets within child chips, timelines, or notes played in sound gadgets nested within performance windows.
# Options Tab
# Colour
The colour of the gadget and its field.
# Inner Radius
The size of the inner radius of the field, where the effect applies most strongly to notes. Similar to the Core of a Trigger Zone.
Cannot be higher than the Outer Radius.
When Positional is on and using the Sphere zone shape, this is used as the core size of the zone.
# Outer Radius
The size of the outer radius of the field. While a note is further towards the outer edge, the effect will affect the audio less. While a note is further towards the inner edge, the effect will affect the audio more. Similar to the Falloff of a Trigger Zone.
When going below the Inner Radius, pushes the Inner Radius to the same value.
When Positional is on and using the Sphere zone shape, this is used as the falloff size of the zone.
# Upper Height in Timelines, Lower Height in Timelines
When in a timeline, how many rows above or below the effect field gadget will be affected by it.
# Positional
When on, the gadget affects sound gadgets within the scene, much like a trigger zone. (Mm) (Tg)
This includes the LFO wave.
# Zone Shape
Affects all sound sources within the zone.
You can animate gadgets moving in and out of the effect field, to perform such changes. (Mm)
Has the Sphere and Scene options. (Tg)
# Movement Tab
The term “LFO” is now used in this tab, standing for Low Frequency Oscillator. This refers to a value changing over time like a wave, in this case how much the effect field is being applied.
# ADSR
Similar to the ADSR setting of a sound gadget, but affecting how much effect the gadget has on the note over time. (Tg)
Note, there is no Release part for this setting.
# LFO Depth
How non-effective the field can get in the low parts. (Tg)
# LFO Rate
How fast the wave moves across the field. (Tg)At 0.1, cycles every 50 seconds. At 0.5, cycles every 1.5 seconds.
While LFO Beatsync is on, becomes an integer locked to musically useful tempos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12, 16, 24, 32, and 64. Representing 1 ÷ setting.
# Wave Shape
The shape of the wave moving across the field. (Tg)
# Beatsync LFO
When on, each wave cycle will be some whole fraction of the beat. Randomised wave shapes will be seeded, meaning the randomised “height” of the wave (how positive or negative the wave is) will be the same for any effect field and the same every time that effect field is played.
When in a timeline or sound performance window, the tempo of this beat will be inherited from the containing gadget.
# Bipolar LFO
The field’s settings will be added to the sound’s settings at the highest point of the wave.
When on, at the lowest point of the wave the field’s settings will be subtracted from the sound’s settings at the lowest point of the wave.
When off, at the lowest point of the wave the field’s settings will have no effect on the sound’s settings at the lowest point of the wave.
# Reverse LFO
When on, the high and low points of the wave are inverted.
# Speaker
Channels Sound gadget output through one place, and so is able to affect all audio channelled through it. A speaker gadget can be targetted by a sound gadget by name, using the Speaker Name setting.
Most often used to have many sources output from the same 3D position, or to get the envelope (real time volume of audio output) of a music track.
Memory: Costs 0.0061% of the things limit per gadget.
# Properties
# Volume
The volume of the speaker.
Note, the final output volume is multiplied by Channel settings.
# Delay
Adds a delay effect to all audio passing through this gadget.
# Reverb
Adds a reverb effect to all audio passing through this gadget.
# No. of Sounds
The number of linked sound gadgets that can play notes. Older sound gadgets take priority.
# Panning Tab
# Envelope
Sends the highest envelope value out of all sounds playing through this speaker.
# Surround Pan, Stereo Width, Rear Speakers Volume, Pan Style
# 3D Panning Tab
# Master Mixer
Has sliders for the volume of each audio channel.
When more than one gadget is in the scene, the volume settings are added to 100% and then multiplied.
For example, if music is set to -25% and +80% by different gadgets, those settings actually apply 75% and 180% to the volume of those channels. Multiplied together that gives 135%.
Memory: Costs 0.0061% of the things limit per gadget.
# Mix Tab
# General
Added to 100%, then multiplies the volume of all output from this channel.
For example, a setting of 20% will be added to 100%. A sound effect using this channel will play at 120% of its normal set volume.
This audio is also modulated by the player’s Sound Effects Volume preference setting. (See General.)
# Music
Affects the music channel.
This audio is also modulated by the player’s Music Volume preference setting. (See General.)
While playing audio from another PS4 app such as Spotify, the music channel is muted automatically.
# Voice
Affects the voice channel.
This audio is also modulated by the player’s Voiceover Volume preference setting. (See General.)
# Character
Affects the character channel.
This audio is also modulated by the player’s Sound Effects Volume preference setting. (See General.)
# Background
Affects the background channel.
This audio is also modulated by the player’s Sound Effects Volume preference setting. (See General.)
# Gameplay
Affects the gameplay channel.
This audio is also modulated by the player’s Sound Effects Volume preference setting. (See General.)
# Analysis Tab
# Reverb
There are four versions of this gadget, one for each of the four reverb channels: Reverb A (Music 1), Reverb B (Music 2), Reverb C (Game 1), and Reverb D (Game 2).
Wired power affects: The received power is used as the weight of the blend (averaging) with other gadgets. If fully powered, it will average evenly. If powered very little, it will not affect the settings very much.
Memory: Costs 0.0063% of the things limit per gadget.
While on a Timeline: has fader handles.
# Reverb Properties Tab
# Reverb Preset
A number of impulse response settings that make the audio sound like it’s being played inside different settings. A visualisation of the impulse response is represented as a wave form. The name of the chosen impulse response will be shown as the name of the gadget.
Drag a slice from a sound gadget’s slice mapper into this setting to set it as the impulse response and save it to the -1 position.
The built-in reverb impulses have the following names:
- 0: Marble Mausoleum (Lge)
- 1: Echoing Cathedral (Lge)
- 2: Empty Warehouse (Lge)
- 3: Cathedral (Lge)
- 4: Sports Hall (Lge)
- 5: Reactor Hall (Lge)
- 6: Marble Hall (Med)
- 7: Underground Car Part (Med)
- 8: Partitioned Factory Hall (Med)
- 9: Studio (Med)
- 10: Reflective Auditorium (Med)
- 11: Sitting Room (Med)
- 12: Reflective Auditorium Balcony (Med)
- 13: Brick Kiln v. Short Slap (Outdoor)
- 14: Sharp Single Echo (Outdoor)
- 15: Echoey (Outdoor)
- 16: Roofless Court Echoes (Outdoor)
- 17: Triple Slap Echoes (Outdoor)
- 18: Brick Kiln Short Echoes (Outdoor)
- 19: Underground Tomb (Sm)
- 20: Concrete Acoustic Dome (Sm)
- 21: Church w. Acoustic Jars (Sm)
- 22: Church Transept (Sm)
- 23: Sitting Room (Sm)
- 24: Hard Corridor (Sm)
- 25: Summer Forest (Outdoor)
- 26: Long Single Echo (Outdoor)
# Volume
The volume of the reverb effect’s output.
# Reverb Pre-Delay
How much time the reverb is delayed after the input sound.
At 0%, there is no delay. At 100%, there is a delay of 165 milliseconds (0.165 seconds). (As explained by Mm’s Ed Hargrave.)
# Pitch Shift
Shifts the pitch of the input audio.
# Shorten
The higher the setting, the sooner the impulse is cut off.
# Infinite Reverb
The volume of the signal kept as it goes through the reverb process. The higher the setting, the longer the input signal will carry. At 100%, the input signal will never die.
# Reverb Effects Tab
# Distortion Amount
Applies distortion to the impulse.
# Reverb Chaining
The amount of this reverb’s output to pass on to another reverb later in the processing chain. For this reason, B can only be sent to C or D, C can only be sent to D, and D cannot be chained at all.
# Next Reverb Channel
The channel to send to. (See Reverb Chain.)
# Dynamics Compressor
Compresses the reverb output.
# EQ Filter, Low Cut Frequency, High Cut Frequency
Affects the equalisation of the reverb output.
# Delay
Controls the delay settings for the 4 main channels. Each channel has its own version of this gadget, with different settings.
There are 4 versions of this gadget: Delay A (Long), Delay B (Ping-Pong), Delay C (Dub Echo), and Delay D (Short Echo).
Wired power affects: The received power is used as the weight of the blend (averaging) with other gadgets. If fully powered, it will average evenly. If powered very little, it will not affect the settings very much.
Memory: Costs 0.0061% of the things limit per gadget.
# Delay Properties
# Volume
The volume of the delay audio. Also shows a meter of the output of the delay channel.
# Playback Speed
Multiplies various time settings of the gadget.
Is multiplied by the parent playback speed similar to the Timeline Playback Speed setting.
# Time, Feedback
Time is how long the audio is delayed before a new iteration begins. Multiplied by the Playback Speed setting. While hovering over the top half of the graph, the tooltip shows the time between iterations in milliseconds. It also shows the nearest musical notation for that speed, assuming 100% speed has 2 beats per second.
Feedback is how much of the original volume each iteration keeps. Iterations continue until no volume is left.
Visualises each iteration as a vertical black bar from the bottom of the graph.
Note that while these settings send a Spice & Randomisation wire value and spicy and random range settings can be added, these are ignored.
# Beat Sync Delay Time
When on, the Time will snap to the note timings. The timings will also be multiplied by a parent timeline of the delay gadget.
# Rate, Depth
Affects the pitch of the chorus output over time. A sine wave increases and decreases the pitch.
| Axis | Setting | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| X | Rate | how quick the sine wave goes from high to low |
| Y | Depth | how much the pitch is affected |
# Reverb, Reverb Channel
How much reverb to add to the delay iterations.
# Delay Effects Tab
# Distortion Amount
# Lo-Cut, Hi-Cut
Cuts frequencies of the delay output that are lower or higher than the settings.
Lo-Cut defaults to 10%, and Hi-Cut defaults to 90%.
# Stereo Ping-Pong
Each delay iteration will come out of a different stereo channel (left or right). The stereo image is wider (the sound is cut off from the opposite side more) the higher the setting.
The first iteration of a new sound always comes out of the left side first.
# Surround Ping-Ping
Similar to Stereo Ping-Pong but bounces between the centre and rear channels instead.
# Sound Channel
The delay volume and sound channel is independent from the audio source’s volume and channel.
# Channel
General Channel, Music Channel, Voice Channel, Character Channel, Background Channel, and Gameplay Channel.
Wired power affects: When there are multiple gadgets for the same channel, settings are blended (averaged). This averaging is weighted by the power they are receiving.
Memory: Costs 0.0063% of the things limit per gadget.
While on a Timeline: has fader handles.
# Mix Tab
# Volume
The volume output of this channel.
# Distortion Amount
Adds distortion to all audio on this channel.
# Chain Reverb Amount, Next Reverb Channel
# Ambisonic Panning
For 3D Panned sound sources using this channel, when the player is wearing the VR headset and earphones sources will sound as though they are coming from above or below as well as left/right/forward/back relative to the orientation of their head within the game.
# Dynamics Compressor
Affects the compression of the channel output.
# EQ Filter, Low Cut Frequency, High Cut Frequency
Affects the equalisation of the channel output. Displays the Spectral Analysis.
# Analysis Tab
Volume
# Spectral Analyser
Displays a live visualisation of the frequencies of this channel’s audio output, running from low bassy frequencies on the left to high frequencies on the right. The graph shows lines at 40, 60, 80, 100, 200, 400, 600, 1000, 2000, 4000, 6000, 8000, 10000, and 20000 Hz.
To the right of the frequencies is a level meter, showing the current volume of all audio output through this channel. Marks are shown (from quieter to louder) at -64, -56, -48, -40, -32, -24, -16, -8, and 0 dB.
# Signal Level Output
Sends the current audio level as a value.
Note, this output is based on the audio going to the player’s TV, after being quieted by their preferences.
# Spectral Bands Output
Sends the current volume of each of 8 bands from the spectral analyser. Lower frequencies (bassy sounds) are first in the output, higher frequencies are last.
Note, this output is based on the audio going to the player’s TV, after being quieted by their preferences.
The bands output are as follows:
| 40-100 Hz |
| 100-300 Hz |
| 300-500 Hz |
| 500-1000 Hz |
| 1000-2500 Hz |
| 2500-4000 Hz |
| 4000-8000 Hz |
| > 8000 Hz |